Thursday, January 3, 2013

Noodles & Pancakes.

I promise this will be one of my last decadent food posts for awhile. As sad as I am to see the four-day holiday weekends go, I am not sad to say goodbye to the butter-and-sugar laden foods we've been eating!

Because we still haven't done research into a babysitter and since we're not big New Year's Eve revelers, we stayed home and rang in the new year from the comfort of our couch. Actually, we didn't ring in the new year at all as we were both exhausted and in bed well before midnight. But we did manage to have some delicious food in celebration of 2013.

It's been more than a year since we've made fresh pasta. And, just like last time, I am amazed at how quick and easy it is to make. Lee whipped up this simple whole wheat dough while I put Alice to bed and, by the time I'd tucked her in, he was laying out fresh noodles on towels all over our kitchen. After a quick dip in boiling water, he served the fresh pasta with escarole sauteed in fresh garlic and anchovy paste and topped it with shaved parmesan. So simple and delicious.

After dinner Lee made a cheese-and-chocolate dessert plate that we enjoyed with a glass of Inniskillin Ice Wine. If you enjoy dessert wine, you must try this one! And pairing it with this creamy cheese made it taste all the more delicious.

You'd think we'd be all sweet-ed out after that dessert but, when we woke up on New Year's Day, Lee was ready to make hot chocolate pancakes! For my 30th birthday, we went to South Africa and, while there, we had dinner at a place called Savoy Cabbage in Cape Town that we still fondly remember as one of the best meals we've ever eaten. Flipping through the cookbook we brought home from the restaurant, Lee stumbled across that hot chocolate pancake recipe and decided to make them for a special first-day-of-2013 brunch. They were warm and melt-y and tasted just like hot chocolate! But twelve of them are way too many for just two people. And, it turns out, those hot chocolate pancakes aren't a breakfast or even a brunch item but are meant for dessert! So basically the two of us ate a breakfast of dessert intended for, oh you know... six people!

Like I said... it's a good thing the decadent holiday eating has come to an end.

Have I sold you on the hot chocolate pancakes? We will definitely make them again... but for dessert for a group of people, not just the two of us! Click on the image below for the recipe on how to make them. Recipe from The Savoy Cabbage Cookbook by chef Janet Telian.

3 comments:

You guys have been eating well! I've been taking a little break from the kitchen which means James has been cooking, and he does not have the skill your husband has. He does make some good pancakes (not hot chocolate which sound crazy good!)... but aside from that it's burritos and anything that just requires heating up. I'd much rather have your delicious pasta, and I'm okay with calories if they're worth it :)

I'll have to try making the hot chocolate pancakes... for a special occasion. They look really tasty. Your photos make the meal and prep-work look easy.

I'm glad you married someone who learned to cook (hopefully from his mommy). My husband is a great cook too. Not a lot of fancy stuff, but always hearty and good.

You must have learned to cook from ? It wasn't from me. Most of the time when you were young, I was working full time, single and would rely on "Wendy's, Colonel Sanders", or chicken nuggets and tater tots. It's a wonder you survived.

As I was writing this, I let my husband read what your husband had made... he said as soon as I was finished writing on your blog, he wants to look on the internet for a cooking class for both of us to take. Well I'll be! I'm excited now! It will be a new adventure. I'll keep you posted.